a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waste water treatment system and method, and more particularly to such a system adapted to treat raw sewage from a home or other source. More particularly, this system can be used in combination with a conventional septic tank to process the effluent from the septic tank so that it need not be discharged into a septic field.
b) Background Art
There are many situations which require on-site sewage treatment, and this is usually accomplished by use of a septic tank and a drainfield. In the septic tank, the raw sewage is subjected to anaerobic treatment, after which the raw sewage is discharged into a septic field where the aerobic action causes further reaction with the sewage material to deactivate the objectionable organisms and/or other material.
There are many situations where the soil is not conducive to the use of drainfields in connection with a septic tank, and this often requires constructing what might be termed as an "artificial septic field". In many situations, because of the limitations of space or for other reasons, creating a drainfield environment artificially is not practical. Thus, there have been various attempts to provide treatment apparatus in which the effluent from the septic tank is subjected to aerobic action by recirculating it through filter media and/or additional treatment.
Yet, there is a continuing need to provide such apparatus which is reliable, has the ability to meet the ever increasingly strict environmental standards, and yet be reasonably economical and "user friendly". Also, there is need to have such a system and apparatus where the susceptibility to malfunction can be minimized.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a system and apparatus which has a balance of desirable features so that it is able to reliably treat the sewage with efficiency, in terms of ability to deactivate the objectionable organisms and material, and also with the capability of having a desirable balance of operating features.